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James MacGeorge Donald 1917 - 1993

James MacGeorge Donald was born on May 18, 1917 in Aberdeen, Aberdeen City County Scotland, United Kingdom, and died at age 76 years old on August 3, 1993 in Wiltshire County, England United Kingdom.

James MacGeorge Donald

James MacGeorge Donald, James MacGeorge Donald

May 18, 1917

Aberdeen, Aberdeen City County, Scotland, United Kingdom

August 3, 1993

Wiltshire County, England, United Kingdom

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James MacGeorge Donald James Donald (1917 - 1993)

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James MacGeorge Donald's History: 1917 - 1993

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Introduction

Movie and Theatre Star. Early life Donald was born in Aberdeen, the fourth son of a Scottish Presbyterian minister. His mother died when he was 18 months old and his father remarried. Donald grew up in Galashiels and was educated at Rossall School on Lancashire's Fylde coast. He briefly attended McGill University in Montreal, but his asthma meant he transferred to the University of Edinburgh. Donald originally intended to be a teacher but seeing Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Dame Edith Evans in The Late Christopher Bean made him decide to be an actor. He began seeing as many shows as possible and studied at the London Theatre Studio for two years. He made his stage debut in 1938 in The White Guard and he began to get work regularly on stage. He appeared in Twelfth Night with Michael Redgrave and understudied John Gielgud in King Lear. He toured the provinces in The Cherry Orchard. War service In 1939, Donald tried to enlist but a medical classified him as unfit for military service so he joined ENSA. He played minor roles in several war films, including Alibi (1942), In Which We Serve (1942), Went the Day Well? (1942), San Demetrio London (1943) and The Way Ahead (1944). He achieved fame on stage appearing in Present Laughter by Noël Coward. In 1943 he was signed by MGM. After The Way Ahead in 1944, the British Army reversed its earlier decision and called up Donald. He joined the RASC before being assigned to British Army Intelligence where he typed up decoded enemy messages.[3] Acting career After the war he resumed his acting career. On stage he was in The Eagle with Two Heads (1947) and You Never Can Tell (1948) In films, MGM loaned him to Gainsborough Studios for Broken Journey (1948). He was also in The Small Voice (1948) and MGM's Edward, My Son (1949). Donald had a big success on stage in The Heiress (1949) with Ralph Richardson, Peggy Ashcroft and Donald Sinden. It led to Laurence Olivier casting him in a production of Captain Caravallo (1950).[4] For films, he was Jean Kent's love interest in Trottie True (1949) and supported Jean Simmons in Cage of Gold (1950) and Googie Withers in White Corridors (1951). Donald had the lead in a comedy Brandy for the Parson (1952) and supported Trevor Howard and Richard Attenborough in Gift Horse (1952). He played Mr Winkle in the 1952 film version of The Pickwick Papers. He had the lead in The Net (1953) and was cast in his first Hollywood film in MGM's Beau Brummell (1954). The same studio hired him to play Theo Van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956). It was Donald's voice, and not that of Kirk Douglas, that read aloud the famous letters from the artist to his brother and formed the narrative backbone of the film. International work He portrayed Major Clipton, the doctor who expresses grave doubts about the sanity of Colonel Nicholson's (Alec Guinness) efforts to build the bridge in order to show up his Japanese captors, in the war film The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). He spoke the film's final words: "Madness! Madness!" Donald was in much demand to play supporting roles in action and prisoner-of-war films: The Vikings (1958); Third Man on the Mountain (1959); Group Captain Ramsey, the Senior British Officer in The Great Escape (1963); King Rat (1965), a doctor in a POW camp; and Cast a Giant Shadow (1966). He played a colonel in a comedy The Jokers (1967) and had a part as a heroic scientist in Quatermass and the Pit (1967). Donald starred in a 1960 television adaptation of A. J. Cronin's The Citadel and appeared regularly in many other television dramas in the UK and US. He starred in two episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents directed by Hitchcock himself: "Poison" (from the story by Roald Dahl) and "The Crystal Trench" (based on the story by A.E.W. Mason). In 1961, he played Prince Albert opposite Julie Harris's Queen Victoria, in the Hallmark Hall of Fame production of Laurence Housman's play Victoria Regina, for which he received an Emmy nomination. He performed Write Me a Murder (1961) on Broadway. Later life Later film roles included Hannibal Brooks (1969), The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1969), David Copperfield (1969), Conduct Unbecoming (1975) and The Big Sleep (1978). Death Donald retired from acting in part because of a lifelong asthmatic condition. He grew grapes and made wine in his farm in Hampshire. He died of stomach cancer on 3 August 1993 in West Tytherley, Hampshire. He was survived by his wife Ann, and a stepson.
05/18

1917

Birthday

May 18, 1917

Birthdate

Aberdeen, Aberdeen City County Scotland, United Kingdom

Birthplace

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Early Life & Education

He was educated at Rossall School on Lancashire's Fylde coast. He briefly attended McGill University in Montreal, but his asthma meant he transferred to the University of Edinburgh.
Military Service

War service In 1939, Donald tried to enlist but a medical classified him as unfit for military service so he joined ENSA. He played minor roles in several war films, including Alibi (1942), In Which We Serve (1942), Went the Day Well? (1942), San Demetrio London (1943) and The Way Ahead (1944). He achieved fame on stage appearing in Present Laughter by Noël Coward. In 1943 he was signed by MGM. After The Way Ahead in 1944, the British Army reversed its earlier decision and called up Donald. He joined the RASC before being assigned to British Army Intelligence where he typed up decoded enemy messages.
Professional Career

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1942 The Missing Million 1942 One of Our Aircraft Is Missing Uncredited 1942 Alibi Barman Uncredited 1942 In Which We Serve Doc 1942 Went the Day Well? German Corporal Uncredited 1943 San Demetrio London Gunnery Control Officer 1944 The Way Ahead Pvt. Evan Lloyd 1948 Broken Journey Bill Haverton 1948 The Small Voice Murray Byrne 1949 Edward, My Son Bronton 1949 Trottie True Lord Digby Landon 1950 Cage of Gold Alan 1951 White Corridors Neil Marriner 1952 Brandy for the Parson Bill Harper 1952 Gift Horse Lt. Richard Jennings, No. 1 1952 The Pickwick Papers Nathaniel Winkle 1953 The Net Prof. Michael Heathley 1954 Beau Brummell Lord Edwin Mercer 1956 Lust for Life Theo Van Gogh 1957 The Bridge on the River Kwai Major Clipton 1958 The Vikings Egbert 1959 Third Man on the Mountain Franz Lerner 1961 Victoria Regina[7] Prince Albert 1963 The Great Escape Gp. Capt. Ramsey "The SBO" 1965 King Rat Dr. Kennedy 1966 Cast a Giant Shadow Maj. Safir 1967 The Jokers Col. Gurney-Simms 1967 Quatermass and the Pit Dr. Mathew Roney (Released as Five Million Years to Earth in the US) 1969 Hannibal Brooks Padre 1969 The Royal Hunt of the Sun King Carlos 1970 David Copperfield Mr. Murdstone TV Movie 1975 Conduct Unbecoming The Doctor 1978 The Big Sleep Inspector Gregory (final film role)
Personal Life & Family

The Theater in England and the United States. Theatre & stage "White Guard" (1938) "Swords About the Cross" (1938) "Weep for the Spring" (1939) "Twelfth Night" (1939) "King Lear" (1940) "Thunder Rock" (1943) "The Time of Your Life" (1943) "Present Laughter" (1943) "This Happy Breed" (1943) "The Brothers Karamazov" (1946) "The Eagle Has Two Heads" (1947) "The Cherry Orchard" (1948) "You Never Can Tell" (1948) "The Heriress" (1949) "Captain Carvallo" (1950) "Peter Pan" (1952) "Slightly Soiled" (1953) "The Dark is Light Enough" (1954) "The Gates of Summer"(1956) "Face of a Hero" (1960) "Write Me a Murder" (1961) The Wings of the Dove" (1963) "The Doctor's Dilemma" (1963) "School for Scandal" (1970) "The Marquise" (1971) "Emperor Henry IV" (1973)
08/3

1993

Death

August 3, 1993

Death date

Cancer.

Cause of death

Wiltshire County, England United Kingdom
Death location

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Obituary

James Donald, a British stage, screen and television actor known for his film portrayals of military officers, died on Aug. 3 at his home in Wiltshire in southwestern England, the British press reported last week. He was 76. He had been in failing health and had long suffered from asthma, The Daily Telegraph said. Mr. Donald served in British Army intelligence for part of World War II and went on to play a British Army doctor, Major Clifton, in the 1957 movie "The Bridge on the River Kwai." The film is about prisoners of war in Burma while it was occupied by Japan. He won critical praise in the United States for his portrayal of the doctor, who talks reasonably to the prisoners' obsessive, militaristic leader -- played by Alec Guinness -- who insists on building a bridge conscientiously for their Japanese captors. "Must we work so well?" Mr. Donald asks him. "Must we build a better bridge than they could do themselves?" Prisoners of War The Times of London, reviewing Mr. Donald's career last week, observed that "the part was considered one of his finest film performances." He appeared in more than two dozen other films, including "The Great Escape" (1963) and "King Rat" (1965), both about prisoners of war, and "Conduct Unbecoming" (1975), about military life. He was lauded by critics in the United States for his quiet but moving depiction of Vincent van Gogh's brother, Theo, in the 1956 film "Lust for Life." Mr. Donald's stage appearances in the United States included playing a blue-blooded writer in the Broadway mystery drama "Write Me a Murder," which opened at the Belasco Theater in 1961. He also appeared repeatedly on American television in the 1950's and 1960's. In 1958, he donned a uniform to play the captain in a live CBS production of "Billy Budd," Herman Melville's tale of conflict and tragedy at sea. Mr. Donald was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, the son of a Presbyterian minister, and studied at McGill and Edinburgh universities and the London Theater Studio. His comedic acting in 1943 in Noel Coward's play "Present Laughter" made him well known in Britain. Mr. Donald retired from acting because of his poor health. In later years, he grew grapes and made wine in Wiltshire. He is survived by his wife, Ann, and a stepson.

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